


Welcome Home

by MistressRen (Jokers_Sanity)



Series: Welcome Home [1]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Angst, Darth Tantrum and his Evil Space Ginger, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Everything Hurts, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Hux is Not Nice, Insecurity, It's Seriously An Emotional Rollercoaster Folks, Kylo IS Matt, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, M/M, Men Crying, Miscarriage, Past Mpreg, Post-Canon, Scary Children, Space Husbands, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-16 06:31:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12337359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jokers_Sanity/pseuds/MistressRen
Summary: In which Supreme Leader Snoke sends Lord Kylo Ren undercover aboard the Finalizer to assess morale almost one year after the battle of Starkiller, and Kylo seriously begins to suspect that his daughter likes 'Matt the Radar Technician' more than she likes him. Secrets are exposed, hearts are broken, and an entire ship lives in fear of a tiny ginger child with impressively developed vocal chords.





	Welcome Home

It was an unusual assignment, to be sure. But it had been handed down by the Supreme Leader himself – along with the cheap blonde wig, oversized spectacles, and the nametag that simply read ‘Matt’.

Ten months of training had not adequately prepared him for this moment. He stood in the middle of the mess hall, troopers and various other members of the rank and file fluttering excitedly about and paying the newcomer little mind. He cleared his throat, but the sound did little to cut through the din of the crowd, and so he tried again, this time louder and slightly more obnoxious.

And suddenly, all eyes fell upon him. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face and dripped off the curve of his chin, “Hi. I’m Matt, a radar technician.”

“Hi, Matt.” Like some twisted parody of an AA meeting, the entire mess hall seemed to chime their greeting in perfect unison. It was just a trifle… unnerving.

He made his way over to the line, grabbing a standard silver tray and clenching it tight between his fingers. So far, so good. Nobody was even remotely suspicious of his true identity. The lunch that afternoon appeared to be a thin cut of meat and a vegetable medley. Kylo-no, _Matt_ , he reminded himself forcefully-wrinkled his nose in disgust. _Gross_.

Just a bit ahead of him in line was General Hux – the slight ginger cut an imposing figure, even in his off-duty regulation clothing. He was holding hands with a little girl, who couldn’t have been much older than four. Her coppery blonde hair was done up in an elaborate combination of braids and curls, her doe-brown eyes brimming with excitement as she pointed at something just out of Matt’s line of sight. Hux just shook his head in fond exasperation.

The little girl must’ve noticed him staring, because she turned and offered him a bright smile and a happy little wave. Matt found that he had a sudden, inexplicable desire to wave back. When one considered that his last memory of the little girl was her clinging to the hem of his tunic, sobbing over the fact that the bad man was making her mummy go away… It was nice to see her so… _happy_. Suddenly, she broke out of Hux’s hold and came bounding over.

“Hiya! My name is Genesis, and I’m this many!” She proudly held up four fingers for Matt to inspect.

“Wow.” It was difficult to feign surprise, especially when there was so little variation in his tone of voice to begin with. Thankfully, the child didn’t seem to notice. “You’re a big girl, huh?”

The excitement radiating off her tiny frame was almost tangible. “Yeah!” And then, “Daddy and I are gonna have lunch – come sit with us!”

“Oh, I don’t know if…” Could she seriously not tell who it was standing before her?

A tall, dark shadow loomed over the pair, and Genesis giggled before chiming a happy ‘Daddy!’ and latching onto the General’s pant leg. “ _Matt_ , is it?” Matt could hear the laughter in his tone.

Matt rose to his full height and adjusted his glasses plaintively, “Yes. I’m a radar technician.”

Hus raised one thin, copper eyebrow. “So I’ve heard.” He patted Genesis’ head softly, earning an almost inaudible coo. “Genesis seems to have taken quite a shine to you.”

As if to confirm Hux’s statement, the child nodded. “He’s _pretty_ , Daddy.”

“She’s been rather depressed, lately, what with her other parent temporarily… indisposed.” Genesis’ smile fell slightly, “Talking to you seems to make her happy. So please, do join us for lunch.”

And really, how was he supposed to turn down such a tempting offer? Hux _never_ said ‘please’. “Alright, if you insist.”

There were a few murmurs throughout the mess hall as the three gathered their trays and took a seat at the table usually reserved for the high-ranking command officers, but their comments were largely ignored. Hux had long since learned how to drown out the useless background noise, Genesis was too young to truly comprehend what was so unusual about the given situation, and Matt… he appeared appropriately flustered, a minnow fearfully swimming in shark-infested waters.

And then Genesis stole a huge piece of broccoli off of his plate when she thought he wasn’t looking, stuffing the entire vegetable in her mouth at once to try and hide the evidence. Matt’s dark brows knitted together in confusion – the kid didn’t even _like_ broccoli! Hux was trying to hide his amusement in a long sip of Earl Grey tea.

Matt pursed his lips in quiet contemplation. Then, in retaliation, he stole a small piece of roast bantha off her plate and popped it into his mouth. Their eyes met, two identical pools of brown brimming with determination. Hux practically choked on his tea when Genesis came right out and stole Matt’s glass of water, downing half of it to swallow down the too-large piece of broccoli. Matt retaliated with a swig of strawberry milk, crushing the carton in one massive hand.

“Gods – children, the lot of you.” Hux rolled his eyes, but there was undeniable affection in his tone.

Once all the food was gone, Genesis turned those pleading eyes onto Hux, “Can I spend the day with Matt, Daddy? I wanna learn what a radar technician does!”

“Mmm, I believe that that’s Matt’s decision, darling.” Knowing green eyes met Matt’s own.

“Please, Matt? Please, please, please, _please_ …” She batted her eyelashes at him in the same way she would when she wanted something out of Kylo, knowing it was unlikely he’d refuse her anything.

“It’s pretty boring, the life of a radar technician. I just spend my day fixing stuff. I’m not sure you’d find it all that fun.” Matt said, not sure if he was attempting to deter her or not.

“That’s okay. I can bring my datapad and play on the learning app that Daddy installed.” She said. “I promise, you won’t even know that I’m there!”

Matt knew when he’d been bested, “Alright. I’m supposed to look at the radiator in F-23. Come on, then.”

\--

As it turned out, their little arrangement was more than a one-off thing. Each morning that week, Genesis had come over and invited him to sit with her and her Daddy… only to spend the majority of breakfast eating off of Matt’s plate. She followed him around the ship like a lost puppy, watching him work and occasionally making progress on her learning app. She’d even taken to packing them special lunches. It was rather adorable, actually.

But when he returned to his quarters at night, Kylo had begun to… worry. Either his daughter had become quite the impressive little actress in the ten months he’d been gone, or she really had absolutely no idea that he was her mother. Worse, she seemed to like the made-up Matt better than the very real Kylo. The very idea hurt more than he was prepared for, certainly much more than he cared to admit. Could his daughter actually be forgetting about him?

There was only one way to find out.

He was ‘fixing’ the A/C unit for the main kitchens when he asked, absently, “So, what do you think of Kylo Ren?” He didn’t turn to look at the little girl, but he was certain she’d heard.

After several moments of intense silence, Genesis looked up from her datapad and announced, “Mummy went away a long time ago. Daddy and I didn’t want him to leave, but…”

Matt yanked out a cord that probably shouldn’t have been removed, if the smoke pouring out of the vent was any indication. “What if he didn’t want to leave the two of you either?”

“Daddy was okay, for a little while. I was sad, and I don’t think he wanted to show me that he was sad, too. He wanted to be strong. Daddy is very strong.” Genesis said softly.

Matt didn’t like where this was going, “The General is a very strong man, yes.”

“And then one night, he just started crying and wouldn’t stop. I was really scared.” She continued.

Something tightened in his chest and he felt like all of the air had forcibly been sucked from his lungs. Hux had been crying. The most feared man in the galaxy (aside from Snoke, of course) had been in tears over _him_. How had he _not known_? He should be able to feel such absolute heartbreak through their bond, he was sure of it.

And then he thought of their little girl, terrified in the face of something so wholly unfamiliar. Before that moment, it was entirely likely that she’d never seen Hux crying. Hells, the only time he himself had seen tears in the normally unshakeable man’s eyes had been when their little girl was placed on his chest, healthy despite all of the complications he’d endured during the pregnancy.

He wanted to hug her, and it killed him inside to know that he couldn’t. Not only could he not afford to break character only a week into his investigation, but he wasn’t sure how such attention would be received by the little girl. Slowly, she finished the activity she was currently working on, before setting the datapad aside and crawling over to Matt’s side. Setting a tiny hand on his knee, she peered into the panel and pointed at the actual wire he wanted to be cutting.

“I love Mummy.” She said after another long pause, “But I also hate Mummy. I hate him for what he did to Daddy. I’ve never seen Daddy look so sad, and I never want to see it again.”

She was unintentionally projecting wave after wave of sadness, and Matt couldn’t help but flinch. His little girl hated him, and he had nobody to blame but himself. “Genesis…”

“I don’t think he wanted to leave us.” She said, answering his earlier question. “But he did.”

“You’re definitely your father’s daughter.” Headstrong, even to a fault.

Changing the subject, the little girl examined him critically. “Are you sure that you’re really a radar technician?”

Matt began to fidget uncertainly. If a little kid could see through his horrible disguise, what did that mean for the rest of the crew? “Of course! What would make you ask such a thing?”

She pointed to his arm, “Because you start yourself on fire an awful lot.”

Wonderful. Just… wonderful. A few minutes of frantic patting and childish laughter later, and the fire is out. However, two Stormtroopers rounded the corner and, upon seeing all of his tools set out, decided to play a little trick on the new guy and kick his wrench halfway down the hall. Matt’s left eye twitched, and he was seconds away from force choking the offending trooper through the wall when Genesis _kicked_ the young man in the shin. _Hard_.

It probably did more damage to the little girl than it did to the trooper, but it certainly got his attention. He turned, and suddenly the four year old was at eye-level with a _very_ large gun. To her credit, she didn’t back down. She probably knew that Hux would personally string up anyone that dared lay a finger on her. If not, she’d certainly inherited the man’s steel backbone.

“That wasn’t nice.” She said firmly. “Bring Matt’s wrench back here, _now_.”

“And who do you think you are to be giving _me_ orders, little lady?” The two troopers shared a glance, laughing at the gall of this little girl. Genesis narrowed her eyes.

“You have until the count of three, before I scream so loud that Daddy can hear me three floors away. I’ll tell him that two of his men threatened his little girl, and well… maybe you’ll live long enough to scream.”

Holy steaming pile of bantha shit, his child was terrifying. It was strangely beautiful and bone-chilling at the same time. Matt supplied a helpful, “I’d listen to her, if I were you.”

The other trooper laughed a little, missing the nervous way that his friend was shaking. “That’s a lot of big talk for such a puny brat.”

“One.” She held up one finger.

He elbowed his friend in the side, “Bet the little brat can’t even count to three.”

And just like that, Genesis _screamed_. It was a positively primal sound, and had both of the troopers frozen in place in fear. While everyone’s attention was otherwise occupied, Matt used the Force to retrieve the wrench and busied himself with attempting to correct the damage caused by the fire.

Hux arrived in record time, along with Phasma and Mitaka. Genesis latched onto him like an extra appendage and rambled about how the bad men had bullied Matt and called her all sorts of bad names. Hux’s face contorted in hideous, righteous anger, and he had his blaster in hand before his second-in-command could attempt to talk him down. There was a hole the size of a grown man’s fist in the first trooper’s chest before he could even think about running.

Blissfully oblivious – or perhaps fully aware of what was transpiring behind her, an even scarier thought – Genesis skipped over to Matt and plopped down by his side. “Why did you-?”

Genesis smiled sweetly at him. “You’re my friend. I’m not gonna let anyone be mean to you. Ever.”

\--

The nerve of some people! Clearly, they’d never before set eyes on a weapon that was both stylish and deadly.

At least, that was Matt’s excuse for slicing up the north wall in the mess hall.

Everyone expected there to be some sort of backlash from General Hux, seeing as the ginger always threw a fit when Kylo would destroy his extremely expensive machinery in a fit of rage. Instead, the man merely laughed, the dark glint in his eye suggesting that it would be wise to chuckle along with him. It was just a wall. There were plenty of walls on the _Finalizer_.

When Genesis asked the radar technician how he’d managed to get ahold of her Mummy’s lightsaber, he was prepared. He reached into his pack and handed her a stack of handmade cards, tied with a bright pink ribbon – the little girl’s favorite color. Initially, she was confused. But then she saw that her name was written on the outside of the envelopes in her Mum’s distinct print. These were letters her Mum had written her during her time away, and never sent.

“How’d you get these?” She asked, her tone unreadable.

“I am an… old friend of Kylo Ren. He heard that I was being assigned to the _Finalizer_ , and he asked that, should I see you, I deliver these on his behalf.” Matt said.

Hux raised an eyebrow, “An old friend? I wasn’t aware a man of such violent temperament _had_ any friends.” In other words, _that was the best you could come up with – really?_

“He is not completely a monster, General.” Matt responded, his voice tight.

Hux narrowed his eyes, “No, not a monster in the least. Just in the possession of some less than favorable qualities, as are we all.” He concluded firmly.

“Mummy… wrote all of these? For me?” There had to be at least a dozen letters there.

“He thought about you quite a bit. Both of you.” Matt said, looking between Genesis and Hux.

Genesis appeared torn between opening the letter here and now, setting them aside for later, and just tossing the letters completely. Matt sincerely hoped that she at least took the time to read them, but he couldn’t force her. He knew how angry she was at Kylo for everything that had transpired, and he knew a bundle of letters wasn’t apt to change that, but…

Rising from his seat, he announced, “I think I’m going to sit with the other technicians today. We have to talk about… technicianing…” Matt said. He didn’t think that was a word, but still.

Genesis pouted, before asking, “Will you come to the gym later and play hoverball with me? Daddy has too much _paperwork._ ” She said distastefully, fixing Hux with the glare to end all glares.

“We’ll see.” He said, before vanishing to the other side of the mess hall.

\--

As it turned out, moving to the other side of the mess hall was a bad idea. A _very_ bad idea. A light interrogation of his fellow workers made it abundantly clear that Kylo was not only disliked by the vast majority of those in the _Finalizer_ ’s employ, but that people were just plain _cruel_.

How _dare_ they imply that he was ugly underneath his armor? It had taken _years_ of hard work to perfect his physique, and he’d be damned if he was going to let _anyone_ imply that he was… was…

Before he knew it, the offending technician had gone flying into a nearby vending machine and an awkward silence had befallen the mess hall. Matt was breathing heavily, his face still contorted in an unattractive snarl. The poor man occupying the seat next to him was attempting to subtly scoot out of the line of fire, but his chair was making an awful screech as it slid across the linoleum floor. Matt turned to him slowly, and he let out a rather unmanly squeal before knocking his chair over and taking off for the exit, food all but forgotten.

Having one force-sensitive psychopath aboard the _Finalizer_ was more than enough, as far as many of the crew were concerned. But having another, who was also a supporter of Kylo Ren, was more than many could take. A woman still in line to get her lunch up and fainted, her metal tray crashing to the ground with a loud _thunk_. It occurred to him, briefly, that he might’ve just blown his cover to holy hell... but _damn_ it was satisfying to watch the fall-out. Kylo Ren was a man to be feared, and they’d all do well to remember that.

Later, whilst writing his weekly report for Snoke, he made sure to mention the brief spurts of insubordination that had been quickly and efficiently snuffed out. The Supreme Leader would not be happy, granted, but he needed to know what was going on on his ship. That was why he’d sent Kylo in, after all. To get a feeler for morale almost a year after the battle of Starkiller.

The majority of his reports could be summarized thusly: morale is in the gutter, jerkfaces have no respect for hard-working radar technicians, and everyone lives in fear of the tiny ginger child.

Well, everyone that was halfway intelligent, at least.

Snoke had suggested that he try and reach out, to make a deeper connection with some of the technicians on board. To try and… ease some of the ill will between him and his fellow coworkers after almost murdering that poor soul in the mess. His attempts at _networking_ led to the following report, detailing his encounter with Zack…

_It has been a difficult year for Zack. Apparently, he is married – though how another lifeform can put up with his incessant ass-kissing is beyond me – and their son was a ‘victim’ of the Stormtrooper program. This struck a chord with me, as I was the one who killed him._

_I do not know what would become of me if I lost Genesis, only that I do not like to think of it. Perhaps I saw a bit of myself in his swollen, blotchy grossness, and that was why I felt obliged to make him that card. The result was… unexpected, to say the least. I fail to comprehend why he was not pleased with the apology. Wouldn’t everyone like to know the truth under similar circumstances?_

_Zack now looks on me with mistrust and confusion. I think he suspects my true identity. I will have to try harder to blend in with the other rank and file members of the_ Finalizer’s _crew, it seems. Perhaps I will download a_ ‘Radar Technician’s Manual for Dummies’ _onto my datapad. At least then I will stop catching on fire. Hopefully._

This whole undercover thing wasn’t really working out.

\--

“Good morning, Matt.” Matt scurried to his feet and offered a harried salute, causing Hux to laugh. Since when did the redhead _laugh_? “At ease. There’s no reason to be so jumpy around me.”

“Y-You’re my superior officer, sir. I’m only doing my best to show you the respect that you deserve.” Matt licked his chapped lips, “W-Was there… something that you needed?”

Hux seemed to actually _pout_ , “It seems as if you’ve been _avoiding_ me lately, Matt.”

The blond hurriedly shook his head, “I’ve just… had a lot of work to do, fixing the ship and all. Gotta get it all up to code before inspection rolls around, y’know.”

Hux raised one pale eyebrow, “Really? Because it seems like a lot more stuff is being broken than actually repaired since you came aboard.”

Matt flushed a dark, cherry red. “I’m very sorry, sir. I’m new to this -,”

But Hux wasn’t listening, “What is the date of this year’s inspection?”

“W-What?” Matt stuttered, more than slightly caught off guard by the change in line of questioning.

Hux tutted softly, “Not the answer that I was expecting, _Matt_. Any radar technician worth his salt should know when his ship is due for inspection.”

That made sense. But he also hadn’t prepared for anyone to question him this intensely. The average trooper wasn’t smart enough to question something that was so plainly put before them, and the command generally didn’t care as long as it wasn’t attempting to stage a coup. He’d long suspected that, should anyone be able to see through his rather crummy disguise, it would be Hux… But he didn’t think the older man would try and corner him and pressure an answer out of him.

Hux reached out with one leather-clad hand, gently clasping Matt’s cheek and running his thumb over his swollen bottom lip. Matt drew in a long, shaky breath. Hux was staring at his lips with the intensity of a small child who’d just laid eyes on the biggest piece of candy that they’d ever seen… The slight ginger looked like he wanted to devour him whole…

Matt just might let him.

A tiny voice in the back of his mind drowned out the undercurrent of desire coursing through him, reminding him of the slim, but very real, possibility that Hux didn’t realize that he was Kylo and was putting the moves on someone that was very much _not_ his husband. A sharp stab of pain cut through his belly, almost as painful as when Genesis had admitted that he hated him. He pushed Hux away rather unceremoniously, almost knocking the wind out of the smaller man.

“Hells,” he groaned, more than slightly winded from the sudden attack. “You’re stronger than you look.” He didn’t think that that was a compliment.

“General! You’re… You’re _married_!” He frantically wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve. Even if they hadn’t kissed, he still felt… wrong.

Hux seemed to consider this for a moment, before shrugging, “My husband has been gone for a very long time.”

“That doesn’t give you an excuse to _cheat_ on him!” Matt exclaimed, his voice cracking slightly.

Hux was silent for a moment, and Matt was almost afraid to know what would come out of his mouth next. But nothing could have prepared him for, “We all lost something with Starkiller. Some… more than others.”

Matt tensed involuntarily. “General…”

“My husband… he was pregnant. No more than four or five weeks along, but pregnant.” Hux said softly. “He never told me about it. I had to find out from the medical technician that performed the D&E hours after I rescued him from the battlefield.”

Tears were burning in the corners of his eyes, and he couldn’t help but wonder if Hux was really going to be this cruel. He had no doubt, now, that Hux knew the truth. “You don’t -,”

“He was so reckless, in the weeks leading up to that final battle. Uncharacteristically so. He let a rebel and a Jedi-wannabe land not one, not two, but _three_ strikes… and he lost the baby.”

“Stop.” His voice was unbearably weak, the words getting caught in the back of his throat.

“It’s almost like he didn’t want to have another baby at all. Like he was _trying_ to -,”

“I said _stop_!”

For the first time, his perfectly cultivated control slipped and he used the Force to slam Hux into the nearest wall… hard enough to leave a sizeable dent in the General’s likeness. A thin trickle of blood dripped from the left corner of the General’s mouth, and he wiped it away with a soft chuckle. Tears were openly dripping down Matt’s face, and he did nothing to hide them. There was no point anymore. Hux had always known just the right way to slice him open…

Absently, Hux adjusted the lapels of his great coat. “I love my husband.” He said, as if the past five minutes had never occurred. “I love him, in spite of himself. Even when he ran away instead of confronting his demons, I still loved him.”

“What if he wasn’t running away?” Matt asked suddenly. His voice was hoarse from crying. “What if he was running toward something greater, something wonderful?”

“I told him that we would build an empire together, that we would make something beautiful. I told him that he need not face the dark alone.” Hux said softly.

“Did you ever think that maybe, he was trying to protect you?” Matt countered, his voice suddenly taking a sharp, distinct edge.

“Protect me?” Hux seemed to scoff, “From what?”

Matt didn’t answer. Instead, he seemed to shrink in on himself and turned his attention back to the radiator he was working on. General Hux had been right about one thing – even after consulting the manual, he was still painfully inept when it came to repairing even the most basic of equipment. Absently, he scratched his belly over the raised D&E scar.

Almost silently, the General came to kneel beside him. He eyed his work critically – it was clear the man hadn’t the slightest as to what he was doing, but it was… cute… of him to make the effort. Leather-clad hands came to fall heavily on his shoulders, and loathe as he was to admit it, he jumped. Turning wide brown eyes back to his commanding officer, he waited for whatever punishment the older man saw fit to deal out.

“But I never told him the one thing that perhaps he needed to hear most.” Hux whispered, leaning in to press a soft, tentative kiss to Matt’s temple. It was almost like he was afraid of a repeat of earlier.

Matt couldn’t help but lean into the touch. Gods, but it had been a small eternity since Hux had last touched him like that. “Hmm?” He hummed weakly.

“The one thing that I should have told him from the start.” Hux murmured, his lips on the curve of Matt’s ear. “I forgive you.”

And just like that, the touch was gone. He rose to his feet and smoothed out the lapels of his great coat, before stalking off in the direction of his quarters. Matt watched him leave, his heart beating unnaturally fast in his chest. Forgiven, huh? As far as he was concerned, no word had ever sounded so sweet.

\--

He was still taking his meals with the other technicians, so it was a surprise when Genesis strayed from Hux’s side to deliver him a stack of letters. On the outside, she’d drawn a black blob that vaguely resembled Ren in full-regalia, holding what appeared to be his infamous lightsaber. Matt looked at her quizzically, his confusion only growing when she seemed to shift from side-to-side uncertainly, her gaze never meeting his.

“You said that you and Mummy are friends, right?” She asked suddenly. The other technicians seemed wary – bringing up connections between Matt and Kylo Ren never ended well.

Matt took a long sip of water, “Yeah. You could say that, sure.”

“Would you… give these to him… for me?” She suddenly seemed very shy – certainly not the terrifying force that caused the brutal murder of a Stormtrooper.

Matt brightened unexpectedly, and it seemed that everyone at the table breathed a collective sigh of relief. “Sure I can, Genesis. These look… lovely.”

Genesis positively beamed under the praise. “I’m not so good with writing yet, but I drew him lots of pretty pictures! And besides, Daddy says that it’s the thought that counts.”

“I’m sure that he’ll love them.” With a quick hug and a wave, she skittered off to rejoin her father.

He was tempted to open the letters now, but he knew that that would garner more than one unwelcome stare. The troopers were already suspicious of his ‘connection’ with Kylo Ren, he didn’t need to add any more fuel to the metaphorical fire. Or the real ones, if the black patches on his uniform were any indication. He was certainly not meant to be doing such technical work.

It took him a minute to come back to himself, and realize that the other technicians were talking about him. Or rather, they were talking about Kylo. It seemed that the general consensus was that Kylo was a terrible human being and an equally dismal parent, who did not deserve such a token of affection from his child. Matt’s face contorted with anger – bunch of jerkfaces, the lot of them.

“…He probably won’t even look at ‘em. He’ll just rip them up, maybe set them on fire.” One technician remarked nastily.

Another nodded, “Nothing more evil than killing a child’s hopes and dreams, after all.”

“He’s not much of a parent anyhow, abandoning his kid for all this time.” The third chimed in, “He ain’t gonna be winning ‘Mum of the Year’ just for popping out one psycho brat.”

“Oh. Because you’re so much better. You let your only son sign up for the Stormtrooper program. Those idiots are as disposable as the men in red shirts.” Matt said flatly.

The man looked at him oddly, “I just call it like I see it.”

Matt frowned, “You’re mean. I don’t think that I like you.”

“What’re you, three? Talking about liking and disliking people?” The man laughed darkly, “Kylo is a royal pain in the ass, and as far as I’m concerned he can stay lost in whatever hole in the galaxy he fell into.”

“I just call it like I see it.”

He clenched his hand into a fist and the offensive young man floated into the air, and with a flick of the wrist he went catapulting through the air. His body left a sizeable dent in the wall, and Kylo drew him back, dangling him upside-down for several moments before dropping him to the ground rather unceremoniously. There was a sharp _snap_ as the man’s neck broke on impact, and an uncomfortable silence fell over the mess as everyone stared at the dead body.

Gods, it was like they’d never seen a dead body before or something.

Matt finished his food with slightly more gusto, before taking the letters and tucking them into his bright orange vest. Rising from his table, he deposited his dishes in the tray return. With a small, half-smile, he wandered out into the hall to attend to a repair in D-03.

\--

After submitting his last report to Snoke, he received word that it was time for him to return to his duties as Kylo Ren. He breathed a sigh of relief. Pretending to be Matt was becoming more than a little… grating.

That afternoon, he made his way into the mess, much like he had that very first night. He cleared his throat in a very similar manner, and stated loudly, “I have an announcement to make.”

Silence befell the mess hall. After having two of their officers attacked in the span of two weeks, the rank and file had learned, wisely, to keep their distance from Matt. But there was no doubt that all eyes were on him. Even Genesis had taken to sitting on Hux’s shoulders so that she could see over the massive crowd that had gathered, with even more people pouring in from the hall.

With a flourish, he plucked the blond wig from off his head and announced, “My name is not Matt. I’m actually -,”

“Kylo Ren, we know.” A masked trooper supplied not-so-helpfully.

Kylo opened his mouth to respond, but another trooper cut him off, “We’ve known since like… day one, man.”

“Oh.” Kylo wasn’t exactly sure how he was supposed to respond to that. “Okay, then.” Clearly, many of these fools have death wishes. That was the only logical explanation he could come up with.

But there _was_ one who truly hadn’t known. He watched as his daughter slowly climbed down off of Hux’s shoulders and shuffled over to him, her face an unreadable mask and her mind, for once, closed off to him. A hush fell over the assembled crowd.

He’d stood at the foot of the Supreme Leader’s throne, and he didn’t think that he’d ever met a more intimidating force than his little Genesis. She observed him critically, as if searching for something that was less than satisfactory – some hint that this was not truly her father. After a moment, she reached out, her fingers twining in the soft black material of his cowl.

Despite himself, he imagined her standing in the doorway, helpless and terrified as Hux sobbed over him. Over the child that they’d lost, which he’d never had the proper opportunity to mourn. Not for the first time, he felt a sort of unbearable emptiness within his belly… like someone had carved a hole into his flesh that could never heal. He didn’t know if he’d ever be able to have another baby – to be honest, it hadn’t seemed entirely pertinent at the time. He wasn’t even sure if Hux would want to try, after everything.

He’d never be able to tell them why he left. It was part of his arrangement with Snoke. Kylo shuddered to think of the horror that would transpire should he renege on his side of the agreement. And perhaps that meant that they would never be able to return to the way that things once were. Kylo was not entirely sure of what the future held for them, but he knew that it would start with the decision made by this little girl.

Finally, after what seemed like a small eternity, she raised her arms into the air in a silent offering. Kylo, without hesitation, used the Force to float her up into his arms. “Darling -,”

He was cut off almost immediately by small arms wrapping around his neck and drawing him close, “Welcome home Mummy!”

He released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, letting out something between a sob and a laugh as he ran his fingers through her ginger hair and held her close. She was a pleasant warmth in the cradle of his arms, and the crater that had opened in his chest when she’d so cruelly, and justifiably, announced that she hated him seemed to shrink away into nothingness. Everything might not be perfect, but in that moment, the world certainly felt _right_.

And then Hux was leaning in, a gentle hand on the small of their daughter’s back, his lips tentatively brushing the stubble that dotted Kylo’s chin. “Welcome home, my darling.”

Welcome home, indeed.  

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Next time ~ Genesis is abducted by the Resistance, who quickly learn not to mess with the only child of General Hux and Kylo Ren.


End file.
